The Attorney General’s Office and Cumberland Lodge have hosted a landmark event, Re-designing the Magna Carta for Today, bringing together students from a range of backgrounds to rethink the historic charter’s principles for the modern age.
Marking 800 years since the Magna Carta’s final sealing, the event, held at the Lodge, featured interactive sessions including a Q&A with representatives from the Attorney General’s Office, and workshops with the Cumberland Lodge team and Dr John Stanton from City St George’s University London.
Participants explored contemporary challenges to the Rule of Law and drafted their own versions of the Magna Carta for the 21st-century, thinking about the rights they want to protect now and in the future.
Key themes that emerged from their discussions included digital citizenship and digital rights, regulations on AI, and the need to include political literacy at an earlier stage in the education system.
Attorney General Lord Hermer KC said:
“This year we celebrate 800 years since the sealing of the Magna Carta and its core principles are still relevant today. The Magna Carta established the rule of law and the idea that all citizens, including those in power, should all be equally ruled by the law.
“This hasn’t changed and I am delighted that students from Cumberland Lodge came together to hear about its importance, which is testament to its core principle.”
Professor Melissa Butcher, Programme Director at Cumberland Lodge, said:
“This event highlighted just how much young people are thinking about ways to create a better society if they are given the opportunity. They haven’t given up on core principles like the rule of law or democracy, but instead are able to think creatively about ways of updating those principles that take into account a changing world.”
The outcomes from the workshops will inform an educational resource for schools and youth groups, encouraging young people to reflect on the importance of the rule of law and how it impacts their lives.
The Magna Carta was issued in Runnymede, a short distance from Cumberland Lodge where the event was held, and was the first document to put into writing the principle that the king and his government was not above the law.
The 50 participants came from Herschel Grammar School in Slough, and The Sixth Form College in Farnborough, universities Royal Holloway, UCL, Queen Mary and Portsmouth, and youth charities My Life My Say, and Together As One.
